There is an art to improving conversions and this tip will make a big difference to getting extra sales to boost your bottom line.
And that art starts with learning to love your website visitors, especially the ones that have money burning a hole in their pockets. You know, the ones that need to buy something! The only problem is that they might not know what, where or when or from WHO they’re going to buy from.
Some people call them time wasters, but a smart marketer knows differently. Keep reading and we’ll show you how to increase the chance that this kind of web visitor will buy from you and not from your competitor…
Do you know who your main customers are? Do you know what you’re offering them?
If so, the next step is to map out your buyer’s journey so you can make sure your website covers everything your customers might want to know before buying, from the early stages of ‘I have a problem or a desire but I don’t know what will solve it’ right through to ‘what is the best type of ‘solution providing widget’ is best for my needs’ and the best question of all: ‘I’m ready to buy, now WHICH business will I buy from?’.
Does your website address every stage of the buying cycle?
There are many stages of the eCommerce buying cycle and if you want to be a successful eCommerce website, you need to make sure you’ve covered all of them.
Your website is your online vehicle to answer every question your customer might have. If you answer them all well, you could have yourself a new sale!
Sit down and map out the types of customers you have. Consider their problems, their pain points and how your product/service helps them. Think about what kinds of questions they’d be initially asking.
Here is a simple table that outlines the stages of buying your potential customers will go through. You should create your own version and then write down where you’ve answered them in your website… and if an answer doesn’t exist then you’ve got some work to do!
It might seem like a lot of work, but this is why you need to make sure you’ve got all your bases covered: If a buyer has an unanswered question, it’s an objection to buying. If a buyer gets an answer, it’s one LESS objection. And if YOU are the one answering their question, you’re building your credibility as a trusted source. Who would you rather buy from, the site that just throws products up online shouting ‘buy me now’, or the site that cares enough to understand your needs?
This mapping out process also ties in really well with SEO and you will discover some fantastic ‘long tail’ keywords that can bring you some highly targeted traffic (if you want to learn more about this grab our Beginners Guide to SEO eBook)
There is a lot more to creating a successful marketing strategy for an eCommerce site, but this is a great start if you can nut it out. I know this has been a pretty dry topic, but it’s something that will pay off BIG TIME. Once you start nutting your own buyer’s journey it will start making sense and you’ll see the big picture once you get into it… I promise!!
We’ll talk more about eCommerce tips in the coming articles. Stay tuned readers, because each tip you learn makes a big difference to your online conversions!!
This blog was originally written for Australian Businesswomen’s Network her business blog on the 23rd of November 2012 by Bianca Board.